This application requests partial support for a conference on New Frontiers in the Amelioration of Hearing Loss hosted by the Central Institute for the Deaf, an affiliate of Washington University in St. Louis, and in honor of Dr. James D. Miller. This conference provides a rare opportunity for clinicians, scientists and engineers in widely disparate fields to come together and share their latest research findings. The proposed conference will reflect the current state-of-the-art and project future developments in four major areas: hair cell regeneration and development, sensory cell protection and rescue, sensory aids, and auditory processing and rehabilitation. One of the major aims of the proposed conference is to bring together biologists who study basic cellular and molecular mechanisms of sensory cells with clinical scientists and engineers who are working on the characteristics and development of sensory aids and treatments. The hope is to facilitate dialogue, the transfer of information and the latest findings as well as to highlight opportunities for research that have potential applications to the treatment of hearing loss. The proposed conference will include invited presentations and discussions, tutorials, and contributed poster sessions. Cross-disciplinary tutorials will be used to educate both basic scientists and clinical scientists and engineers. Conference proceedings will be peer reviewed and published in an issue of Ear and Hearing. The organizing committee consists of a group of well established investigators in the four major areas of the conference and is assisted by a conference coordinator. An internationally recognized panel of scientists advises the organizing committee. In order to encourage new and young investigators, 30 scholarships will be awarded to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The proposed conference will be advertised through postal and electronic mailings, announcements and posters at appropriate places.